Do you get to play the music you love live?

shaunm

I was just flicking through the thread about songs that go down well and a comment made by @DrBob about playing "sex on fire" made me laugh but also made me think about how often we get to play the music we really enjoy live and in front of people.

When I was in a band playing our own music often the only people there were the other bands on the bill that night and friends and family. 

When playing in function bands our choice of songs is dictated not by what we want to play but by what the crowd will enjoy the most (of course we all will enjoy some of the songs but chances are not all). 

Sessions are not about what you want to play, often you get booked to play and it's a case that you are doing what you are asked to rather than what you would want to play. 

So other than signed pro's and of course tribute acts (I presume they must be loving what they are doing?) who gets to play the music they love and would chose to play live and in front of people? Do we do it because we love playing the guitar and it doesn't matter what so long as we are getting some money in for playing an instrument we love regardless of the song choice? (DrBob's comments, and I agree fully with his sentiment though I do play it) would suggest otherwise. 

I would like nothing more than to be able to play blues and Jazz all the time but a) I'm not good enough so the chances that anyone would actually want to sit and listen are remote at best b) pop music is the gig that pays.

So does anyone here get to play the music they love live?

bluechargeboy

I play originals and only originals in my band. Furthermore, they are instrumental originals! Gig attendances vary but we very rarely have played to only 2 men and a dog. We don't have a big following but there is a knot of fans and it is growing.

Pub gigs are a source of income primarily because the audience is often indifferent. It can feel like you might as well be stacking shelves when that happens, but if you put your back into it you can win them over.

We are trying to grow ourselves into a festival act, but it takes time and you have to identify the right promoter cliques and small "feeder" festivals that lead to bigger ones.

not_the_dj

"He who pays the piper calls the tune"

I enjoy listening to music, I enjoy playing guitar, and I enjoy playing guitar to a crowded pub of people enjoying themselves and being paid for it..

Those three things can be separate.

not_the_dj

shaunm said:

 and of course tribute acts (I presume they must be loving what they are doing?) 

I know some guys in tribute bands, and it really changes how you listen to that particular band....so actually picking your favourite band might not be the best move.

One guy told me it took him years to be able to listen to that particular band again for pure enjoyment.

ESBlonde

I'm not sure signed up pros would always agree that they are playing the music they love. If you tour and play the same material night after night, there comes a point that the shine wears off.

Again with function bands, some of the selected material can be quite nice, it's just that if you're a 'metal/chose a style' guitarist you can't widdle your way through the night.

Blues tends to be a style that is great to play but boring (for the most part) to watch.

I think if you are of a standard that you get invited to play in several bands, then you get decent variety and get to appreciate music in many of it's forms.

YMMV

Danny1969

I like the stuff I play in all 5 bands I'm in. There's some songs you can get bored with but in general there's enough material to choose from so you don't need to play stuff you hate. But my taste are quite mainstream, I actually love Kings of Leon and Sex on fire From a guitar workout point of view I get to play a lot of cool solo's, Hotel California, Eruption, Time, Brick in the wall, Parisienne Walkways the old fingers get a good workout rather than just playing chords all night. 

When you gig a lot it's not the playing that's ever hard or the song choice it's the logistics of the gig. Take last night, we had to drive to London at 2pm to get to the hotel for 4pm. When get there it's an awards show and Jimmy Carr wants to practice his bit so there's no time for a soundcheck and even if there was we would have to unplug all the gear and move it again so the award stage was clear  So we chill in the green room till 11 00pm till the last award then we have to setup in front of 900 people, pushing our way past tables of well oiled execs, 20 minutes to plug all the amps in, set the monitors up etc and then play for 2 hours, stopping at 1 :45, Then go get the van from 3 streets away, load up and drive back to Portsmouth, getting home around 4:15 am. The actual playing was enjoyable and always is, it's the rest of it that can be hard 

bluechargeboy

I should add that the music I play is very far away from anything I would listen to, but I love playing it. It's all music, innit. I have played in cover bands and I enjoyed that too (apart from Mr Brightside).

not_the_dj

Agree with @Danny1969 when I gig I'm getting paid for the travelling, setting up, waiting around etc. The bit where we get to play is the fun part, that's my hobby.

shaunm

I'm in agreement certainly about the playing part is the fun but and it's not a job when you're enjoying yourself.

 I have often heard, when I was younger I said it too - "I'm not playing those songs".I guess you maybe grow into being able to go and play for a crowd regardless of the genre of music as playing it is its own reward (despite the fact you take a wage for it).

Even some of the great players out there get thier wage through session work which gives them the freedom to go out and play the music they write. Robben Ford, Michael Landau are good examples of this. Even with their amazing gifts I am sure they improved from the work they had to take to pay the bills.   

steamabacus

Danny1969 said:

I like the stuff I play in all 5 bands I'm in. There's some songs you can get bored with but in general there's enough material to choose from so you don't need to play stuff you hate. But my taste are quite mainstream, I actually love Kings of Leon and Sex on fire From a guitar workout point of view I get to play a lot of cool solo's, Hotel California, Eruption, Time, Brick in the wall, Parisienne Walkways the old fingers get a good workout rather than just playing chords all night. 

When you gig a lot it's not the playing that's ever hard or the song choice it's the logistics of the gig. Take last night, we had to drive to London at 2pm to get to the hotel for 4pm. When get there it's an awards show and Jimmy Carr wants to practice his bit so there's no time for a soundcheck and even if there was we would have to unplug all the gear and move it again so the award stage was clear  So we chill in the green room till 11 00pm till the last award then we have to setup in front of 900 people, pushing our way past tables of well oiled execs, 20 minutes to plug all the amps in, set the monitors up etc and then play for 2 hours, stopping at 1 :45, Then go get the van from 3 streets away, load up and drive back to Portsmouth, getting home around 4:15 am. The actual playing was enjoyable and always is, it's the rest of it that can be hard 

My favourite ever music quote is from Charlie Watts in a documentary celebrating 25 years of the Rolling Stones. When he's asked what it's been like, playing in the Stones for all that time he says .. "Hmmmmm. 25 years in the Rolling Stones? 5 years playing music ..... 20 years hanging about."

That just about sums up playing in a band for me. "Hanging about".

Phil_aka_Pip

I'd love to play all original* instrumental prog rock

* original apart from the classical & jazz stuff we nicked

digitalscream

I play originals, and - having written half the material myself - I'd be pretty ashamed if I wasn't playing the music I love and enjoy playing.

I think it's just as rare to play for money and enjoy the music as it is to enjoy your job - it's effectively the same thing. That's why "making money" is at the bottom of my list of priorities when it comes to my band; I might take it really seriously, but I do it for fun. I'm not even entirely sure I'd want music to become my main source of income, because I know it'd just become less fun for me (it happened before - I used to really enjoy computer-y stuff, now I just tolerate it for the sake of paying the bills).

PolarityMan

I pretty much only play stuff i love, originals and covers.

shaunm

digitalscream said:

I play originals, and - having written half the material myself - I'd be pretty ashamed if I wasn't playing the music I love and enjoy playing.

I think it's just as rare to play for money and enjoy the music as it is to enjoy your job - it's effectively the same thing. That's why "making money" is at the bottom of my list of priorities when it comes to my band; I might take it really seriously, but I do it for fun. I'm not even entirely sure I'd want music to become my main source of income, because I know it'd just become less fun for me (it happened before - I used to really enjoy computer-y stuff, now I just tolerate it for the sake of paying the bills).

This is the way I feel about it. 

EricTheWeary

Playing a song you love can indeed ruin it for you.

Playing a song you don't normally like can make you listen to it in a different way and enjoy or appreciate it more.

Having part of the set be stuff you don't really like but fits with the band ( all this is from a covers perspective) is probably par for the course.

If you don't like anything you play and it doesn't pay the mortgage I'm struggling to see why you would bother at all. For us ( occasional) weekend warriors it is, to paraphrase Bob Geldof, a 90 minute holiday from being yourself. Ideally you enjoy your holiday.

Grunfeld

Some stoned old hippies sang:
If you can't be with the one you love...
Love the one you're with

Lotta wisdom in that.  That's how playing covers is, for me.  And I'm guessing for a lot of us.
I saw @DrBob 's comment about "Sex on Fire" and I just don't feel that way about it, or any song. 

I've had the normal quota of really shit jobs: Unloading lorries of frozen meat (not great if you're a veg*n); in a factory making armour plating for tanks (not great if you're a pacifist); and pulling on wet motorcycle leathers at 6am because it has been another crappy wet English winter and you've got to ride around London for the next 10 hours trying to earn enough to feed your wife and family, and it's dangerous, and cold, and wet, and horrible.

So when I play "Sex on Fire", (even though I never listen to it), and some 20-something in a pretty dress and heels is doing her pole dancing moves with the singer's mic stand in front of us and the whole place is rammed and having a great time, and the landlord has offered us an extra 25% if we'll just play a few more songs.... well, I fucking love that song!  Or any song that does the job.  And when this happened a fortnight ago and it was "Sex on Fire" and "Johnny B Goode" ... oh gawd, how can you not love those songs?

Love the ones you play.

thecolourbox

The best paying gig I've ever had as a musician was indeed playing music i love, admittedly i had never played it before i got the job, but had always listened to it

it was a job as the resident pianist at a jazz cocktail bar in the centre of Vienna (called Nightflys, look it up, its awesome) for 9 months. Getting to play the music I loved in front of appreciative folks who shared the same passion was a real revelation to me. It re enthused me to keep playing and try other stuff. Contrary to what others have said about not being able to listen to stuff for enjoyment I found to be the opposite. It got me listening to everything anew, to old Miles Davis records, to big band, even Jamie Cullum. And i appreciated stuff a lot more for it as I was listening from a piano point of view, and trying to get into their heads. Also worked for other styles, if I got stuck on an awkward bit of Rachmaninov, stopping and thinking "How might Gershwin have played this?" was a brilliant way to think differently about your playing

Sadly its all been downhill since then as I took up rock guitar instead, and GAS/life took over...

Teetonetal

I have previously always tried to do 2 bands, an orignals for the music I want to Play and a covers for Money, that Kind of worked.

now though I am playing in backing band for a singer/Songwriter, this is interesting as I get to write the majority of my parts and do a lot of Improvisation, but without the stress of having to produce the Songs and I gotta say It's one of the more enjoyable bands that I've been in. I do like her music though (kinda early Cheryl Crow but more bluesy)

frictionfraction

not_the_dj said:

"He who pays the piper calls the tune"

I enjoy listening to music, I enjoy playing guitar, and I enjoy playing guitar to a crowded pub of people enjoying themselves and being paid for it..

Those three things can be separate.

Spot on

monquixote

I'd agree with some of the sentiments in this thread. 

Much of the music that I love, I'm not sure I'd especially like to play live. I've been in bands which were very wordy, folky, indie stuff and though I liked the music we wrote it wasn't especially fun to play live. Similarly I had to play a load of Joni Mitchell for a gig once and I found it quite tedious to learn and play though I love her as a musician.

There's plenty of stuff like hard rock and the cheesier end of funk that I don't listen to a lot, but I really get a kick out of playing live and as others have said playing to a room full of dancing people is considerably more fun than playing something deep and meaningful to a one bloke and his dog. That being said I don't think I could play music I really hated for any money.

Tom_Brookes

I play bass in an originals band, and really enjoy that, although doing an originals band really is doing 'gigging' the hard way imo.....we normally have a small crowd, and always go down really well wherever we play, but getting people there in the first place is the hard part!

I play guitar in a Blues/Funk band again playing tunes that I love....John Mayer stuff etc However, the specialised nature of it means that I'm really struggling to book paid gigs for it (It's a new project) I do 'music' for a living. However 90% of my income is as a peripatetic guitar/bass teacher, and fortunately I absolutely love it! Hopefully I'll start earning a little bit more from my playing in 2015.....there has been talk of going out under a different name in my originals band and doing pub gigs as a covers band...not sure how up for it any of us are though.